Monday, March 25, 2013

I was super lucky to be able to have a night away this past weekend to run a race. I went with three super fun girls from my ward. We stayed at this awesome resort- which helped with the race because if you didn't stay at the resort, you had to take a shuttle to get to the race. I think it was the most expensive hotel room I've had in my life. After a very mediocre dinner at a hole in the wall restaurant, we headed back to the resort for some dessert. Because why not have treats right before a race?

This was us the morning before the race. We had 'matching' shirts.

And here we all are after the race. And yes- I was the only one of the 4 of us who didn't get a 'medal.' Zooma races are mostly run by women- and instead of a medal when you cross the finish line, they give you a necklace. Which is kinda awesome, because it's not like I'm ever going to wear a medal around, yet I'll wear the necklace. BUT- if you get a PR at a Zooma race, or if it's your first half marathon, you get an actual medal too. Which I didn't PR, so I didn't get one... boo. But I'm happy for my friends who did awesome (two of them it was their first half!)

My and my darling friend Lindsey. She got a PR by like 7 minutes or something super awesome.

It was a REALLY fun weekend. It was perfect weather for a run. It was quite cold after we were done, but couldn't have been much better during the race.
It was HILLY. Like really really hilly. And the awesome thing, is that they were all at the beginning- like the first 7 miles. ha. And I felt awesome. I felt like I sped up those things no problem. The last few miles were really hard though. So maybe I over did it on the hills... who knows. I did fine, but my average mile was 20 seconds slower than my average of my last race. And 20 seconds adds up after 13 miles. My goal was to be in the 1:40s.... and I barely made it. It was the biggest race I've ever run- which was also a really fun experience. There were pacers and everything. I chased the 1:50 pacers until mile 8. Then after mile 8 I just tried my hardest to stay in front of them. Really fun race- and I can't wait to run it again ;)

On our way home we stopped at this little cafe for lunch. It was the best meal I've had in a long time. But it might have had something to do with how hungry I was :)

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Quinn had a birthday party on Saturday. This is the pinata we made (it was supposed to be a heart. please humor me and tell me how much it looks like a heart) ;)

Crazy how those things take so long to make and are so quick to break! but the girls had fun, and that's what counts!

Quinn's flower cake

Quinn had a fun little party with some darling friends. I am so proud of my 6 year old. And honestly can't believe I have a kid as old as her. Here are 6 things I love about Quinn:
1. She is a smarty pants. She is reading way beyond her age and never ceases to amaze me with what she knows.
2. She is good at following the rules. She is so obedient. She listens to me and hardly ever gives me grief (except when I want to brush her teeth. She doesn't like toothpaste? No matter what I try...)
3. She is so good about playing with Veda and Hendrix. She seems to have a sense about when I need a break and she will find Veda and give her all of these options of things they could play together until Veda agrees. It's awesome.
4. She still likes to sit on my lap. And she's still tiny enough that it doesn't hurt my legs :)
5. She loves to be creative. Painting, coloring, making stuff. She is already asking me to teach her how to knit or sew. She will definitely be my little crafting buddy in life.
6. She loves to give presents, or write someone a note, or plan a surprise for someone. She has a big heart. And she fills mine every day. I'm so glad she's mine!

My friend Emily threw an awesome Irish Party for St. Patrick's Day. The kids got to go on a fun scavenger hunt, make rainbow necklaces, and thumb print clover cards. My kids had a blast- there were even green snacks! (I'm so glad we did this, because I totally dropped the ball with St. Patrick's Day and did NOTHING) yikes... :/

And hey- here's Emily. She ran a 10k race with my on Saturday. It was my very first 10k actually. SO FUN! I was going to take it easy since I have a half marathon this upcoming Saturday, but when we got to the turn around and I counted how many ladies were in front of me, I decided to pick it up so I could maybe place. I got 3rd in my age group- and some major negative splits! First mile 8:16- but third mile was 7:28. Slowed down to a 7:39 for mile 6- but it was okay since I passed all the ladies I could see. :)

Quinn's tooth fell out!!! That thing was hanging by a thread for DAYS, so I was so happy when it came out!

Veda is learning to hold her own with Hendrix

This baby prays more than anybody I know.

I took the kids to Jason's Deli for dinner one night. Dave was actually gone ALL week at South by Southwest- I was so tired of doing dinner and cleanup and baths and bedtime alone. So this was a special treat to keep my sanity :)

And Dave had a birthday (Which we celebrated early since SXSW was starting and he was gone on his birthday). Doesn't he look great?! He just gets better and better looking every year ;)

Baby fairies playing piano

Driving on the shuttle bus to get to the zoo

We went to the Waco zoo with some friends. It was a very fun day!

Butterfly boy

It was a good week! I had an ear infection (totally stinks), and Dave was gone all week (also totally stinks), but we did lots of fun things with lots of fun friends. And I LOVE that Spring break fell on Daylight Savings... it made the time change SO much easier!!

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Sorry- I've totally dropped off the blogging world. It's been spring break here! (although this post is not about spring break). This is what we were up to the week before

Dave and I went to Gordoughs. Amazing... Super fancy gourmet donuts covered in toppings.

We also went to California Pizza Kitchen. I love having dates with this guy.

Veda looking sweet and grown up.

Hendrix said his baby fell off the slide at the park and got owies. The tape is bandaids. I'd say he did a good job of bandaging her up!

Getting comfy to watch a show

Quinn's school is so awesome. They had a 'camping' night. The kids got to sit in tents and have teachers read them a book. We had trail mix, and the kids got to make bookmarks. They had some big kids in the art room to help the littler kids. Veda though it was pretty awesome to have a 'big kid' make her a bow for her bookmark.

Quinn started piano lessons a couple weeks ago. I made her this bag for her piano books.

Thursday, March 07, 2013

Let me start this post by saying that I am NOT an expert. I just wanted to share with you some of the healthy things I've been eating lately.

I never ever ever thought that I would really change my diet drastically. I am REALLY addicted to sugar. And let me also tell you that i have no intention of going off sugar completely. I have just been eating WAY better and WAY less sugar and junk food. I have been feeling great and have been less hungry (which I have struggled with hunger for as long as I can remember).

I owe much inspiration for this to three people:

1. my mom. She has always been a bit of a health nut. She was raised by an EXTREME health nut. We grew up never ever getting sweetened cereal, only eating whole wheat bread. She has always been a good eater, and has recently even gotten a little more into eating extra healthy.

2. Dave. Dave has been juicing for one meal a day for 2 years! And I'm not talking about making home made orange juice/strawberry juice/apple juice. I'm talking spinach, celery, and carrot juice... yuck. I'll eat my vegetables thank you. But he is awesome at it and has always had more willpower than me when it comes to sweets.

3. My friend Kelsey. Kelsey has a blog: Modern Healthy Mom. She is an inspiration. She is really good at eating healthy. And I love her blog. She's awesome.

So a few weeks ago I went off sugar for the WHOLE WEEK. I didn't even have cravings. I felt great and I felt awesome and proud of myself that I could actually do it. I am still eating a lot healthier, but have had some sugar... ha. But here are the healthy things that I am doing that are helping me stay away from my go-to handful of m&m's, or piece of cake, or bowl of ice cream (or let's face it, all three)

coconut sugar:

You can use this instead of regular granulated white sugar. It has the same amount of calories as sugar, but has a low glycemic index (Which means you don't have the 'crash' like after eating reg. sugar). I've made muffins using it. I mix it with my Crio Bru, and it's awesome in oatmeal. I am new to this- so I'm sure I'll use it in more stuff, this is just where I've started. (and I got this bag at Costco!)

Chia Seeds!
I am also very new to using chia seeds. Kelsey did an awesome blog post about it HERE. But they have tons of health benefits. They have fiber, omega 3's, calcium, potassium, and iron. Someone told me to mix them in my yogurt (which I did this morning). And nope- that's not going to be my Chia seed method of choice. I couldn't taste them, but it ruined the creaminess of my yogurt for me. If anyone uses these in something that works well for them, I'd love to hear about it.

LARA BARS!

These have been my go-to treat. These Peanut Butter Cookie ones only have three ingredients! And they are super yummy. The Peanut Butter chocolate chip ones are amazing too (those obviously have chocolate chips in them). But still really healthy :)

DON'T get the combo pack from Costco- it has yucky flavors.

see look- 3 ingredients! Or you could be crazy like a couple of my friends and MAKE your own. Way to go super women... I'll buy mine ;)

A couple of other snacks that I'm loving:
Greek yogurt. I HATED Greek yogurt two weeks ago, and now I love it. Crazy how things have changed once I stopped putting a million pounds of sugar in my body. It's so good.
Almonds with grapes: And I don't mean eating some almonds and some grapes, I mean eating an almond and a grape at the same time. Just trust me. My mom has raved about this forever and I never believed her. I even tried it a few times just to humor her and I didn't see anything special. And now- it's one of my favorite snacks ever. (I am NOT usually an almond lover-- unless it's dipped in chocolate)